Thread-board-lifting mechanism for spinning frames



March 17,1931. 7 H. A. OWEN 1,796,390

THREAD BOARD LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Filed Feb; 6, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

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Henry A. Owen byMWl M Anya.

March 17, "1931. I H, OWEN 1,796,390

THREAD BOARD LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Filed Fab. 6, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.

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to and extends transversely between the two Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE HENRY A. OWENQ OF FOXBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DAVIS & FURBER MACHINE COMPANY, OF NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF IlIASSACHUSETTS THREAD-BOARD-LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Application filed February 6, 1930. Serial No. 426,219.

mizing the effort required to raise the thread boards into dofling position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a thread board which is light in weight and suficiently rigid to maintain perfect 7 alignment of the guide eyes, and thereby reduce the effort required to raise them into dofling position.

A further object of the invention is to provide means in a spinning frame having the usual two thread boards which act to raise successively first one and then the other of the thread boards by one continuous movement of an actuating lever thus reducing the effort required to prepare for dotting.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means connected to and extending between the two thread boards which acts by longitudinal expansion to raise the thread boards into doffing position.

Other objects and features will more fully appear from the following specification'in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the The guide eyes of a spinning machine must be properly located to accurately position the, roving as it approaches each spindle.

The position of the eyes must be such that they are out of the paths of the bobbins as they are doifed. The present invention resides chiefly in providing an improved means of moving the guide eyes temporarily out of the plane of the spindles to permit dofling.

Such means may be described briefly as fol- An expanding actuator is connected thread boards of the spinning frame. The

actuator is preferably made up of two sec tions one of which is slidable upon the other in such a manner that as the overall length of the actuator is increased the thread boards will be raised. The actuator is operated by a lever so connectedto both sections that upon a single continuous movement thereof first one and then the other of the thread boards are raised.

Consequently, substantially one-half the force need be applied to the lever that would be required if both thread boards were raised simultaneously.

Inasmuch as the invention relates solely to the thread boards and the means acting to raise them into doffing position, only those elements which constitute. the invention and those. directly associated therewith are illustrated. The parts not shown may be of standard construction Well known to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a spinning frame illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention. a

F ig. 2 is a top plan view of the elements directly connected to the thread boards which function to raise and lower the same.

Fig. 3 is a view showing a detail of construction of the device.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section through one of the thread boards. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view illustrating the method of stiffening the thread boards.

The thread boards 1 and 2 may be of any suitable construction although they are desirably constructed in a novel manner which will be hereinafter described. The thread boards have secured theretothe usual guide eyes 3 through which the roving passes from the drawing rolls- 4' associated with the thread board 1 and from the rolls 5 associated with the thread board 2. From the guide eyes 3 the roving passes to the spinning mechanisms 6 situated beneath each guide eye.

The thread boards 1 and 2 are preferably constructed of wood and pivoted upon the longitudinal fixed supports 7 and 8 extending throughout the length of the machine. A desirable method of pivoting the thread boards is by means of hinges 9-situated at suitable intervals along the thread boards and which are inserted flush with the upper face 10 thereof. The hinges are desirably secured to the supports? and 8 by means of screws 11 and to thethread boards by means of bolts 12 preferably extending completely therethrough, Since the hinges are inserted, the

faces 10 of the thread boards are permitted to engage directly the lower faces 13 of the supports 7 and 8 when the thread boards are in normal running position.

Each guide eye 3 is secured in separate supports 1a which are independently hinged to the front edge of the thread boards by means of hinges 15 to permit dotting of a single spindle. The present invention is chiefly concorned however, with raising the thread boards themselves to raise all of the guide eyes simultaneously.

The thread boards are moved into their dofiing position indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 1 by means of an expanding actu ator indicated generally by the numeral 16. The actuator is composed of two sections 17 and 18 which are made relatively longitudinally movable by means of pin and slot connections. The section 17 has a longitudinal slot 19 within which is received a pin 20 rigidly secured in the section 18 preferably by screw threaded engagement. A retaining washer 21 upon the pin 20 acts to maintain the two sections 17 and 18 in parallel relation. In order that the pin 20 may be firmly tightened in position without binding the two sections a spacing block 22 sli htly greater in thickness than the section 17 is inserted in the slot and clamped between the washer and the section 18 as the screw is tightened.

To complete the pin and slot connection a slot 23 is formed in the section 18 in which is received a pin 24 having screw-threaded engagement with the section 17. The pin 24: is provided with a washer 25 and a spacing block 26 which function in the same manner as the washer 21 and the block 22 associated with the pin 20. The pins 20 and 24 cooperate to maintain the two sections 17 and 18 in longitudinal alignment and permit expansion of the actuator 16 as a unit. Any suitable construction may however be employed to provide an expansible actuating device.

The outer ends of the actuator are pivotally connected to the thread boards in any suitable manner. One convenient method is that herein illustrated in which one or more of the bolts 12 which secure the hinges 9 may have its threaded end extended into the block 27 or a boss 28 may be formed on the block which has a threaded aperture to receive the end of the bolt. In this manner the bolt 12 serves to secure the hinges 9 and the block 27. The blocks 27 are provided with pivots 29 to which the ends of the actuator 16 are connected. The pivot points 29 are sufficiently removed from and in proper relative position to the hinges 9 to provide the necessary leverage to raise the thread boards when the actuator is expanded.

A variety of methods may be employed to expand the actuator. As herein shown a lever 30 is pivotally connected to the section 18 at 31, and has a link 32 pivoted at one of its ends thereto at 33, and at its other end to the sections 17 at 34;. In order to provide a convenient method of operating the device from a point outside the frame of the machine, a pull rod 35 is provided which is pivoted to the upper end of the lever 30 at 36 and extends substantially horizontally to and passes through an aperture in a bracket 37 secured to a fixed point on the machine. The end of the pull rod is bent upwardly at 38 to form a convenient grip.

When the thread boards are in normal running position the pull rod 35 is retained in a predetermined position by means of a pin 39 fixed in the pull rod which engages the periphery of the aperture in the bracket 37. hen the pull rod has been operated to raise the thread boards as shown in dotted lines Fig. 1 a pin 10 also in the pull rod 35 will be in position to engage the outer face of the periphery of the aperture in the bracket 37, and thereby retain the thread boards in their raised or dofling position.

The operation of the device is as follows. To raise the thread boards, the pull rod 35 is drawn outwardly which rocks the lever 30 about either the point 33 or the point 31 as fulcrum points depending upon which thread board offers the greatest resistance. For example, assume that the thread board 1 offers the greatest resistance. The point 33 will form the fulcrum of the lever 30 and the section 18 will be forced outwardly and raise the thread board 2 until it has reached its uppermost position which is determined by the engagement of its upper face 10 with the outer edge 41 of the support 8.

Upon further movement of the pull rod the point of connection 31 of the lever 3 with the section 18 becomes the fulcrum point and motion of the lever is thereafter transmitted through the link 32 to the s ction 17 of the actuator which in turn acts to raise the thread board 1. On the other hand if the resistance of the thread board 2 was the greatest the thread board 1 would be raised by the initial movement of the pull rod. Theoreti cally the resistance of both thread boards might be equal in which case both thread boards would rise at once. Inasmuch this concition would never obtain in practise the action of the device is progressive raising first one and then the other of the thread boards.

An important feature of the device is the employment of a novel actuating means adapted to control both thread boards from one position and which requires substantially one half the effort of that required to operate a lifting mechanism adapted to raise both thread boards simultaneously. A girl operator is thus enabled to prepare the machine for dotting with a minimum of effort.

In order to still further reduce the effort required to raise the thread boards and also to increase the overall efficiency of the machine a novel construction of thread board is employed. To accomplish this result the thread boards are made of a minimum weight and strengthened by inserting therein a metal stiffening member 4-2 which extends throughout the length thereof. The stiffening member may be round as herein shown or of any suitable cross sectional shape. The stiffener 42 is preferably inserted in a recess 43 f0 med in the thread board and secured therein by means of wood screws 44: which are inserted in transverse apertures 45 located at suitable intervals along the stiffener. The screws 4% are driven into the wood preferably horizontally thus firmly uniting the stiffener to the thread board. Any suitable means, however, may be employed to fasten the stiffener to the thread board. The torsional rigidity of the stiffener is thus transmitted to the wooden thread board to give the latter sufficient stiffness to prevent misalignment of the thread eyes and to counteract the tendency of the wood to warp as it dries out. Furthermore the stiffener re-enforces the thread boards against longitudinal bending under various external stresses such as the weight of the parts secured thereto.

As a result of such structure the thread boards are made rigid and light to cooperate with the actuating mechanism to provide a high degree of efliciency in operation.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, thread boards associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane thereof to permit doffing and manually operable means connected to both thread boards acting successively by one continuous movement to raise one and then the other of said thread boards.

2. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles a thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane thereof to permit dotting, a longitudinally expanding actuator connected to both threadboards and extending therebetween acting when expanded to raise said thread boards and manually operable means to expand said actuator.

53. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a thread board associated with eachrow pivoted to swing out of the plane of said spindles to permit dofling, a longitudinally expanding actuator connected to and extending between both thread boards acting when expanded to raise them into dotting position and means acting to expand said actuator to suecessively raise one and then the other of said thread boards.

4. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit dofiing, a longitudinally expanding actuator connected to and extending between both thread boards acting when expanded to raise them into dofling position and manually operable means acting by one continuous movement to expand said actuator to successively raise one and then the other of said thread boards.

v5. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane of said spindles to permit dotting, a two part longitudinally expanding actuator, the elements of which are connected respectively to each of said thread boards acting when expanded to raise them into doffing position and manually operable means acting to move first one and then the other of said elements to successively raise. one and then the other of said thread boards. I I

6. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a threadboard associated with each row pivoted to swing: out of the plane of the spindles to permit'dofling, an arm on each thread board; a two part longitudinally expanding actuator pivotally connected at each end to and extending between said arms, a manually operable lever connected to one of said parts, a link connected to said lever and the said other part cooperating with said lever to move first one part and then the other to successively raise one and then the other of said thread boards. i

'7. In a spinning frame, two rows of spindles, a thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane of said spindles to permit dofling, a two part expanding actuating member, the elements of which are connected by pin and slot connections to permit relative longitudinal movement acting when expanded to raise said thread boards and manually operable means acting by one continuous movement to move first one and then the other of said elements to raise successively one and then the other of said thread boards.

8. Ina spinning frame two rows of spindles, a thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit doffing, a two part expanding actuator, the elements of which are slidable relatively longitudinally and are connected to each of said thread boards acting when expanded to raise them into doffing position, a manually operable lever pivotally connected to one of'the parts of said actuator, a link connected to said lever and to the other part of said actuator cooperating with said lever to move first one of said parts and then the other thereby to raise successively one and then the other of said thread boards.

9. A spinning frame having the elements defined in claim 8 together with a pull rod connected to the upper end of the lever and stops on said pull rod acting to lock the mechanism in its running position and in doffing position.

10. In a spinning frame a plurality of spindles, a wooden thread board pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit dotting, a metal stiffener extending throughoutthe length thereof and secured thereto by transverse connections which act to transmit the torsional rigidity of the stiffener to the thread board and means to swing said thread boards from normal into dotting position.

11. In a spinning frame a plurality of spindles, a wooden thread board pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit doflfing, a metal stiffener inserted in a recess therein, a plurality of transverse connections acting to transmit the torsional rigidity of the stiffener to the thread board and means to move the thread board into dofling position.

12. In a spinning frame a plurality of spindles, a wooden thread board pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit dotling a metal stiffener inserted in a recess in the thread board a plurality of transverse connections extending through apertures in said stiffener and secured in the wood of the thread boards.

13. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a wooden thread board associated with each row pivoted to swing out of the plane of said spindles to permit dofling, a metal stiffener extending throughout the length of said thread boards, and secured thereto by transverse connections acting to transmit the torsional rigidity of the stiffener to the thread boards and manually operable means acting to successively raise first one and then the other of said thread boards.

14. In a spinning frame two rows of spindles, a wooden thread board associated with each row of spindles and pivoted to swing out of the plane of the spindles to permit dofling, a metal stiffener extending throughout the length of each thread board and secured thereto by transverse connections which act to transmit the torsional rigidity of the stiffener to the thread board, and manual- 1y operable means connected to both thread boards adjacent one end of the frame and acting successively by one continuous movement to raise one and then the other of said thread boards, the said stiifeners acting to prevent twisting of the thread boards as they are thus raised.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY A. OWEN. 

